Maids of Misfortune by M. Louisa Locke Read Free Book Online Page B

to her questions. This morning, as she sat primly in the Stein's carriage on the way to Laurel Hill Cemetery, this idea didn't seem so very bright, and she rather regretted the loss of her morning’s income, since she had had to cancel one of her clients to attend.
    Part of her low spirits stemmed from exhaustion. Half-formed plans to deal with Mr. Driscoll's threatening letter had jostled with questions over Matthew's mysterious death to keep her awake until early that morning. When she'd finally fallen asleep, vague menacing shapes had filled her dreams. At breakfast, Beatrice had probed unmercifully about Mr. Dawson's visit and had been visibly hurt when Annie put her off. But she feared that if she got into the question of Mr. Voss’s will, the problem with Driscoll might come out, and she wasn't ready to tell Beatrice about the debt until she had a plan for handling the problem.
    Driscoll wasn't due in the city for at least another two weeks. She should be able to figure something out, get a loan; maybe she could use the house as collateral. But she found it hard to concentrate on this problem with the questions of Matthew Voss’s death still unanswered. She had planned to discuss some of her concerns with the Steins as they rode to the cemetery until she learned they were picking up Hetty, their youngest daughter, on their way.
    Unfortunately, of all the Stein children, Hetty was the one Annie had met most often and liked the least. Hetty seemed to find it a personal affront that her parents had chosen to give up their home and move into Annie's boarding house. As a result, she was not surprised when Hetty began to complain the minute she set foot in the carriage.
    "Mother, I am so sorry to have inconvenienced you this way. This carriage can barely hold three comfortably, let alone four. I would have gone with Adela, but she had to stop at her dressmakers’ on Larkin first, and I couldn't leave until I had given instructions to Mrs. Phelps. She has been simply impossible ever since the little dinner party I had last week. She's all in a huff about the scolding I gave her about the sauce for the salmon. It was inedible. Of course she blamed it on the stove, and she does have a point. I'm sure that half the reason your Mrs. Kelly did so well, Mama, was the wonderful kitchen she had to work in. I just can't fathom why you gave the house up. Not that Mrs. Fuller's cook isn't adequate, but really one can't expect boardinghouse cooking to compare."
    Here, Hetty had nodded vaguely at Annie and paused for a breath, giving her mother a chance to get a word in edgewise.
    "Dear, I am sure neither you nor your Mrs. Phelps would ever want to trade your nice new modern kitchen for that old inconvenient basement room we had. But enough of these domestic concerns. I hoped you would be able to tell Mrs. Fuller a little about the Voss family while we were on our way to the cemetery. As you know, she goes out little into society."
    Hetty seemed pleased at this request. Sniffing delicately and throwing her nose sharply up in the air so she could more effectively look down it at Annie, Hetty responded, "Well, Mother, if Mrs. Fuller wants to know about the Voss household, I will be more than happy to oblige. I suppose that she must find the doings of fashionable society fascinating, even on such a sad occasion as this."
    Esther Stein looked apologetically at Annie and sternly said, "Hetty, Mrs. Fuller was a good friend to Mr. Voss, which is why she is attending the funeral. But she never had an opportunity to meet the rest of the family."
    Hetty replied, "Oh, of course," but it was clear she was thinking how odd it was that Annie would have known the old gentleman but not be acquainted with any of the Voss ladies.
    "I've known Jeremy Voss simply forever," Hetty began. "Why, I can remember him when he was in short pants and long curls, leaning up against his mama's knee when they came to call on visiting day. One time, when we were about